I have stopped recommending Zerodha from June 2016 and you can read the details of why I have stopped recommending.
This is a very old article. Though I still have account with them mainly for my old investment but has stopped recommending them to others. Read why in this article here.
Moreover, I have started using Upstox and do recommend it to my readers. You can read about my view of Upstox here.
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Have really started to like them for couple of reasons that I will share them here.
1. Better Charts
2. Lowest Brokerage with Good service
I am fine paying higher brokerage for great service but when you get great service at such a lower brokerage price, you should not be looking at other brokers. Only 20 Rs as Brokerage Per Trade!
Final Thoughts
Very innovative in implementing things that work for their business. As an example I have recommended ZeroDha to DIYTechnicalAnalysis members and now ZeroDha is open to provide customized solution to my blog readers. Just use this link to get in touch with a representative from Zerodha or you can use my name as referrer to get the same customized service. I have been referring lot of customers to other brokers but no one has taken this far.
Update 4th December 2016
In my December portfolio report, few readers noticed that for the first time I invested and shared the contract note of Zerodha as opposed to Sharekhan it is because ShareKhan on 15th of November had a horrible day.
I was blocked out of the market for a complete day.
I could not view my portfolio, could not place orders and could not trade for the full day.
This not only happen to my account but it also happened with my wife’s account as well.
This happened not only on the web end but my relationship manager could not place orders and told me it is system issue and Mumbai has been notified about it.
I just saw my stock falling and getting at levels I always wanted to buy and tried and tried and tried but all in vain.
I even transferred funds but just could not do anything after that and the funds did not reflect into my account till next day.
Few of my friends who have ShareKhan account had a similar issue.
This happens on the back of when I have invest 15Lakh Rs in a year and they have earned handsome brokerage for my investment.
It was a day when Pidilite hit a low of 585ish and I wanted to place an order to buy as close as possible to my lower band of my buying range which was 620 to 580 for me.
After such a horrible experience and not being able to trade for a complete day, ShareKhan management did not bother to email about what happened.
This is when I decided to switch back to Zerodha.
Zerodha had similar hiccups in the past but for few hours and not for the complete day and are brave enough to accept they had issues.
When you are charging 30 times more brokerage (Yes ShareKhan brokerage is 30 times more than Zerodha), you expect much better technical services and cannot have days when you just are blocked out of the market.
I was willing to add more to my portfolio but imagine those who are stuck in positions and want to square off as soon as possible to minimize losses?
Please never ever use zerodha, very poor customer care service. Technical error every 3-4 days, many lost money. i will not recommended.
Yes I agree. See some of the comments here – https://shabbir.in/no-zerodha/
Then, why not you added this link in above article?
Added. The review series is very old and so it wasn’t updated. Even links to the DIY Community members needed and update and everything is now updated. Thanks for pointing it out.
🙂 and this is why some real blogger still alive. feeling good.
Real blogger. 😀
Shabir,
I am planning to buy Government Bond which is likely to be launched on Jan 10, 2018. These bonds are to bought from Nationalized Bank (SBI / HDFC) .I don’t have any Demat Account, and i am new to this.
Can i open Trading & Demat Account in Zerodha and buy these Bonds? or Only if i open Demat account from the respective bank, i can buy bond?
Anand, I don’t invest in bonds and so I am not sure what is the process to invest in them. Ideally bonds shouldn’t need a DEMAT account but I can be completely wrong as well.
Fraud company they have debited 43k from my acount n from 2 weeks they r not refunding money they r saying its not there mistake.by b category share they have allowed me to do intraday usally it is blocked for intraday but due to there bug I was able to trade n I was not aware of the share that it is in b category so as usall I was traing it in 19 rs.so for alll share which I sold they told me after 3 day that they bought it back at 22 rs pllzz note the point.n dbited 43k from my acccount.see due to there mistake y I should suffer n the day which they bought that share cost was 16 rs n they buy at 22 what a fraud.so never try using thi s platform.also I m going to file a case against this people so if any1 have suffered any problem from zerodha kinldy whatsapp me on 9798587637.
Moving to angel broking.that is far better than fraud zerodha
Angel is also not satisfactory….Pls do your own research….Angel cost is very high
Is it mandatory to sign and accept power of attorney form???
To an extent yes. You can read in detail about it here – http://zerodha.com/z-connect/queries/stock-and-fo-queries/poa-power-of-attorney-for-your-demat-account
Hi Shabbir,
I have an account with Zerodha. I read your blog and i found it very helpful. However, I have heard from a few investors and a few online reviews that there are a lot of security concerns (money unsafe, buying/selling without consent, blaming on software problems, etc ) when it comes to Zerodha. I can see that you invest large amounts and I would like to know that whether it is safe to invest high amounts through Zerodha? Your words ?
Thanks,
Rohan
Rohan, there is no unsafe factor as far as using Zerodha is concerned because they are also governed by same SEBI rules and guidelines.
Coming to your other queries about technical issues with Zerodha, I completely agree with you on that and I have openly written about it here – https://shabbir.in/no-zerodha/
I don’t recommend them to others unless they know those but then all other brokers also have similar issue and so with Zerodha we are saving on the brokerage for sure.
Nice review Aditi.
Is it nw better to open account with zerodha.. as many reviews are showing dat zerodha service quality is degrading day by day..?? Is it true??
I do think so and if you look at my portfolio ( http://shabbir.in/portfolio/ ), I was investing with ShareKhan and horrible day where I could not do anything and this on the back of paying so much brokerage and so moved over to Zerodha for investing as well.
So u prefer me to go with zerodha.. one more suggestion i got from my frnd is angel broking.. wht is ur opinion on dis? rcmndation really appreciable
Yes I do use Zerodha and suggest Zerodha. Have no experience with Angel broking and so will not be able to comment on them.
Hi….I am using angel….They had X paisa charges on delivery initially but today when i saw my contract note….they had charged additional charges X Rs. …..I am planning to close it tomorrow……
I have another account with HDFC…..I feel more satisfaction with HDFC securities as it is a huge brand…..I feel my money is comparatively safer in HDFC securities….. Charges you can negotiate with them
this link is broken http://www.zerodha.com/open-account/AUOSAB for opening account.
Thanks for pointing it out and the link is https://zerodha.com/open-account?c=AUOSAB and it is fixed in the article as well.
Zerodha is better than other brokers compare to price, but I noticed that there are some issues in accounting calculation, I noticed that their profit and loss calculation are not crediting our account properly.
Eg: If you make a partial trade today; realized profits are booking far less than original profit you earned, I contacted the support team but no proper response. Im not happy with their response if we made a realized profit, it should be booked completely as realized profit, what ever unrealized profit it should show separately. It means they are playing with numbers and we are losing some of our money.Honestly, I feel part of my money are stealing ….
Hi,
I would like to know that what would be the problem, if Back office not integrated with the trading platform? Zerodha is having the issue. Can u please tell me what are the technical disadvantages of Zerodha? As I am new comer, not yet decided with whom I can open Demat/Trading account. Your suggestion will help me out this.
Backoffice if not integrated with trading platform means you will have issues generating reports of your trade in the backoffice. I don’t think Zerodha has any such issues and works fine.
Hi Shabbir,
I am a beginner and wanna open trading + demat account with zerodha based on the competitive pricing they offer. However, I suppose zerodha doesn’t provide options to invest in IPO, FPO, Mutual Funds, Offer For Sale (OFS), Bond and NCD’s. Can you please suggest regarding the same ?
They do provide IPO as well as Mutual funds so I am not sure if you are correct in that front though I don’t in mutual funds through a broker most of the time. Reason is in this article
Hi Shabbir,
It’s great reading your blog. I was trying to reach Zerodha help desk but it’s taking ages for them to pick up the call. Would you be kind enough to refer my name to them. I can mail you my contacts if you are fine with that.
Thanks,
Prasanna
Sure Prasanna. Email me your details and I will get you in touch with them.
Hi Shabbir,
Thanks for replying back. However somebody from Zerodha contacted me last evening. Going to open an account with them in a week.
Thanks,
Prasanna
Great and all is well that ends well.
Hello Shabbir,
Nice review. I have account with ICICIDirect which i am planning to close owing to their high brokerage.I understood that Zerodha has probably lowest brokerage and their brokerage calculator is also great. But i also noticed few other charges when i searched on net.
1. Instant payment gateway charges for over 22 banks – Rs 9 per fund transfer. (Does this mean fund tansfers from trading account to saving account and vice versa will be charged?)
2. DP charges for delivery based equity selling – Rs 8 per transaction.
3. Inter Depository Transfer: Sell(Debit) – Rs 8 + NSDL charges(Rs 5) flat for every debit transaction.
4. Adhoc / Non Periodic Statement Requests: Email – (Nothing’s mentioned) Physical – Rs. 25 per request upto 10 pages. Every additional 5 page at Rs 5 + Rs 35 (Courier Charges).
5. Transaction Charges per ISIN: Sell(Debit) – Rs 8 + NSDL charges(Rs 5) flat for every debit transaction
I will really appreciate if you can explain these charges. I only trade in equities(mostly delivery). No F&O or commodity. Also if i open the account and don’t want to continue later can i close it without any hassle?
Thanks.
Yes there are some charges when it comes to using Zerodha but the reality is other brokerage also have the charges which are hidden. The charges in Zerodha are flat charges and not based on the transaction value like you also mentioned Rs 8 per transaction and not based on your value of transaction.
The best would be to ask them about those charges because at times you can have those charges waived off if you have big account.
Hi Shabbir,
I saw some reviews about Zerodha that we can’t buy or sell stocks that are just listed on BSE alone(and Not NSE) as it supports only stocks listed on NSE. Is this feature included now or it’s still the same?
Hi Ravi, As far as I know, they have both and when did you saw that they don’t allow trading in BSE?
Hi Shabbir, this was a review that was posted in 2011. I think after that in 2012 they got license to trade in BSE listed stocks also. I also got this confirmed from Zerodha Sales Team. You’re right now they can trade on BSE as well as NSE listed stocks. However some videos on you tube still show that when you choose scripts on the dropdown to buy/sell stock, NFO and NSE is seen but BSE is not seen. Hence I wanted to confirm with you. Thanks.
Hi Ravi, my review is posted on December 15, 2013 and and not in 2011 and so i think they had both when I reviewed them. Glad its all cleared now.
So, is it possible for me just buy some shares (for e.g. let’s consider SBI or ONGC on NSE or BSE) and leave it in Zerodha trading/demat account (for months/years) and do not pay anything monthly or annual (after paying Rs 300 in account opening charges). The only thing I pay are brokerage when I sell or buy a share, right? Is this as simple and cheap as that?
Hi Fakeer, you may need to pay yearly fees of few hundreds for demat account but yes it is as simple as that. In fact this is the case with most of the brokers and the yearly fees is quite low as well.
Thank you. I was confused by demat a/c and trading a/c. Actually at IIFL, till now I didn’t have to pay anything as in annual or monthly charges. Looks like Demat charges have been introduced recently, right? Because it’s few weeks ago that IIFL emailed saying they will start charging Rs 40 or sth per month. Before that they didn’t charge anything, neither a trading account maintenance charge, nor demat account maintenance charge.
And it also seems to be the case all the brokers will definitely charge for demat account because maybe it’s sth that even they have to pay to some central authority just like domain registrar have to pay an ICANN fee to ICANN.
No the Demat account charges is something that I am paying for a ages now and it could be that IIFL introduced newly. 40 Rs per month is touch on the higher side but not by a big margin. 25 to 30 Rs is what other charges per month or roughly 300 to 350 Odd bucks per annum.
Not sure about what they need to be paying but could be.
So, is it possible for me just buy some shares (for e.g. let’s consider SBI or ONGC on NSE or BSE) and leave it in Zerodha trading/demat account (for months/years) and do not pay anything monthly or annual (after paying Rs 300 in account opening charges). The only thing I pay are brokerage when I sell or buy a share, right? Is this as simple and cheap as that?
Hi Fakeer, you may need to pay yearly fees of few hundreds for demat account but yes it is as simple as that. In fact this is the case with most of the brokers and the yearly fees is quite low as well.
Thank you. I was confused by demat a/c and trading a/c. Actually at IIFL, till now I didn’t have to pay anything as in annual or monthly charges. Looks like Demat charges have been introduced recently, right? Because it’s few weeks ago that IIFL emailed saying they will start charging Rs 40 or sth per month. Before that they didn’t charge anything, neither a trading account maintenance charge, nor demat account maintenance charge.
And it also seems to be the case all the brokers will definitely charge for demat account because maybe it’s sth that even they have to pay to some central authority just like domain registrar have to pay an ICANN fee to ICANN.
No the Demat account charges is something that I am paying for a ages now and it could be that IIFL introduced newly. 40 Rs per month is touch on the higher side but not by a big margin. 25 to 30 Rs is what other charges per month or roughly 300 to 350 Odd bucks per annum.
Not sure about what they need to be paying but could be.
I am planning to open an account with Zerodha. I had a very bad experience with RKSV which is also providing low brokerage but their service is really pathetic and I even made losses just because oh their bad service. Please tell me your honest review about Zerodha’s service as I am not ready to make the same mistake.
Vanlal, I cannot say about RKSV but ZeroDha till date have good service. Infact far better service than those high brokerage brokers like ICICIDirect and Sharekhan.
Is it only for Stocks ( buying and selling ) ?
Are they good for trading Nifty futures & options , Commodities ?
Thanks in advance
Yes Karthik they have all Nifty futures & options , Commodities.
If brokerage was not an issue who would you prefer between Sharekhan & zerodha and why?
Still Zerodha because Sharekhan is going down in service day in and day out.
How secure are they? I mean what are the chances that they will sell my holdings & run with the money. Since they dont have a physical presence in my city it is an issue for me.
P.S: I am a buy and hold type of investor.
Dear Shabbir SIr,
Is this possible or ever u listen such type of things discussed by Sid about sell the holding and run away?
Plz suggest…..
Rajeev, I haven’t heard of anything as such but then I am not sure if I can deny the fact that anything like that can happen. I am not aware of the SEBI rules and other such things for being a broker.
On this matter I discussed with a brokerage firm. As per them no body can take your money because the money can transfer to your merged account only.
Yes, the only thing is that if u activated the offline trading then the brokerage company can do trading with the money without approval. ( this is done only for extra brokerage and it’s illegal. Any body can log a complain & case on the brokerage firm near Police and also SEBI take necessary action on that firm.)
What is you opinion Shabbir Sir……
Yes and your brokerage account is with the NSE directly and the holdings you have in your account is not owned by the brokers but by the exchanges. Yes of course through your broker.
Need little bit clarification means whether I am right or any thing u want to add…..
I am not sure if I can tell if you are correct or not but it looks all correct.
Your new layout of website looks nice. Only one problem…the persistent black ribbon on the top is wasting too much space of laptop screen. Plz consider only as a positive suggestion from a well wisher.
Anwar thanks for your suggestion but these days all sites have that kind of layout like Facebook blue bar remains in the view always. Do you mean to say the black ribbon is too tall or something?
Exactly… The black ribbon was very tall. Now it seems u hav reduced it. The page looks much better now.
Yes I just noticed that in Chrome and Safari the black ribbon was spanning 2 lines instead of one and so fixed that issue. Glad you liked it now.
Hi Shabbir,
I want to know about technical charts and analysis so please how to do it. i searched so many sites cites but no answer i hope i got answer from u. please suggest.
Santosh, you can get started here.
sir,
i am new to stock mrkt….i heard that discount broker like Zerodha will not give more suggestion abt picking right stock , my question is how much helpful is the suggestion given by full service brokers ? is their suggestion or extra service necesary for stock investor ,for a newbie…kinly ans my quries….i m new to stock mrkt and i am thinking to go for Zerodha . plz guide me
Ramesh, Not at all useful. I have not found them any useful till date baring few times and that becomes too much less reliable over time.
For newbies according to me the most important is to know and learn how market works before jumping into trade with real money.
Yes, I joined a month back , visited their office too..
Thanks Shabbir
Regards,
Sudin KK
Zerodha is indeed good.. i’m already using it..
Hello Shabbir,
Thanks for sharing your reviews.
I started with Zerodha 2 years ago and still using their services. Before that I tried Kotak, RelianceMoney and Sharekhan.
I like Zerodha above all of the the brokerages i used till now.
Regards,
Ajay Singh
I have been using Zerodha for an year now. Its great.
Amit, thanks for your feedback and yes I completely agree with you on this.
can you tell me zerodha broking charge is flat 20 rs per trade buy and sell both.
is it including with all taxes like STT stamp duty service tax..or this is just a brokerage..? taxes would be add on 20 rs after place an order
Its excluding STT and other taxes Vikas.
can you tell me zerodha broking charge is flat 20 rs per trade buy and sell both.
is it including with all taxes like STT stamp duty service tax..or this is just a brokerage..? taxes would be add on 20 rs after place an order
Its excluding STT and other taxes Vikas.
Yes I second your views Amit.